SURROUND Podcast Network

Kellan Shanahan, a public artist turned-Lead Product Designer at Arktura, joins Andrew Lane on Barriers to Entry for a conversation about how curiosity, experimentation, and iteration shape the development of products and systems.

A key player on the product design team, Kellan shares how his work helps drive Arktura’s reputation for blending design, engineering, and manufacturing into a tightly integrated process. Andrew and Kellan explore how interdisciplinary teams work together to create greater outcomes by building strong creative “scaffolding,” why proximity to fabrication changes the speed and quality of design decisions, and how a culture of experimentation helps new ideas move from concept to real-world product.

They also discuss how emerging tools—including AI—are beginning to fit into these workflows, not as replacements for designers, but as ways to accelerate exploration while keeping human judgment and craft at the center.

🎧Listen now at surroundpodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts!

⚡ Big thank you to Barriers to Entry’s season sponsor, Arktura!

Season 4 of Barriers to Entry kicks off with Matthias Hollwich () and a bold idea: architecture may need a total reinvention.

In a world where AI is reshaping design at breakneck speed, Matthias is running his studio like a startup — testing fast, rewriting processes, and using generative tools to imagine entirely new forms of architecture.

Host Andrew Lane and Matthias dive into how AI is transforming everything from research to client collaboration and why this moment may help architects reclaim their influence over the built environment.

🎧 Listen now on surroundpodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts

This season of Barriers to Entry is presented by .